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When preparing a campaign forDungeons & Dragons, said campaign will likely be set on a planet. If your campaign is going to take place solely within the walls of a kingdom, then that lonely planet might suffice, but you should know there is an entire multiverse for both you and your players to explore out there.
The 2024 Player’s Handbook includes a section on the multiverse to stimulate the imagination of its readers, showing how the elements work and where the immortal gods live. If you wish to know more about each of these planes of existence, then join us as we explore what they have to offer.
The Material And Inner Planes
The Material Plane is whereevery concept of the multiverse convergesto form the complex societies we call home. It is where popular settings like Eberron or Dragonlance take place, as well asany campaign you and your friends might create.
While the illustration shown in the 2024 Player’s Handbook might make it seem likethe Material Plane is just a single planet, it is just a representation. The Material Plane is what we’d callthe known universe, with explainable laws of physics but with quite a few laws of magic as well.
The Feywild And The Shadowfell
Each of these realms existsin parallel with the Material Plane, and as such, are considered Material realms. This means that, while the laws of magic and physics work a bit differently in them,they are still bound by said laws.
We don’t know if every single Material Plane has its own Feywild and Shadowfell, but considering how spells and subclasses work, it is best if your campaign includes them in some way.
As parallels,both the Feywild and the Shadowfell share a lot in commonwith their Material counterpart, namelythe disposition of the continentsandwhere certain major cities are.But in the Feywild,every place is overrun with naturewith cities being only small settlements, while in the Shadowfell everything is dark, dead, or in ruins, withcities working as a place for criminals and assassinsto gather and plot.
The Elemental Planes
The Elemental Planes surrounding the Material Plane arecollectively known as the Inner Planes, and they are where the building blocks of reality come from. While we understand water and fire as chemical formulas, in the world of D&Dthey come from the Elemental Planes(although they seemingly still act as they do in our world).
When thinking about these planes, you shouldn’t think about them as a fire planet or a water planet, but asinfinite expanses of their given element.Below you’ll find brief descriptions of each Elemental and Para-Elemental Plane.
The Ethereal Plane
The Ethereal Plane is one ofthe two known “Transitive Planes,”used to go from one Plane to another but without much going on within it. The primary use of the Ethereal Plane isto move through the Material Plane more freely, phasing through objects and mostly ignoring gravity.
Since the Ethereal Plane alsoconnects all Material and Inner Planes together, it can also be used to get from one to another. This is, of course,not the only way to get from one Plane to the other, but it is why several spells and portals use the Ethereal as a component.
The Outer Planes
The Outer Planes existoutside the laws of the physical, and are governed by concepts and ideas oflaw, chaos, good and evil.These realms are where the immortal gods reside, and where the souls of mortals journey on their path to the afterlife.
The Astral Plane
While not technically an Outer Plane,the Astral Plane is the connective tissuethat binds both Inner and Outer Planes together. It is oddly similar to the Elemental Plane of Air, in that it is made of large expanses of nothing, and what little civilizations dwell in it come entirely from outside of it.
In the Astral Plane, however,time doesn’t pass, at least not for the bodies of organic beings: people don’t grow old, and there is little need for food or water. The Astral Plane is so widely used for travel that entire vessels known asspelljammers were created to safely traverse the domain.
The Outlands And Sigil
Just like the Material Plane sits at the center of the Inner Planes,the Outlands are at the center of the Outer Planes, a barren wasteland filled with portals connecting to all of them. At the center of the Outlands is the Spire, a massive pillar withthe City of Doors at its top.
Sigil is the City of Doors,a metropolis constructed on a ring that floats atop the Spire.It is located at the very center of the multiverse,with doors that lead to every single Plane in existence, and it is ruled by the Lady of Pain, one of the most powerful beings known to exist.
The Planes Of The Immortals
These Planes have been claimed byseveral godly creatures, each ruling overan aspect of moralityas it is viewed in Dungeons & Dragons. Most adventurers never visit these places, but all of them are influenced by the ones that inhabit them.
Mechanus
Lawful Neutral
A realm inhabited by robotic-like modrons and ruled by Primus, where every cog has its place.
Arcadia
Lawful Good/Neutral
A paradise not unlike an idyllic version of the Material Plane, where Good spirits come to rest. Gods based on the Egyptian pantheon can often be found here.
Mount Celestia
Lawful Good
A realm of absolute good, made up of seven layers, each placed at a different point in the mountain, with the seventh layer being the top of Mount Celestia. Several popular gods make their home here, with Tyr and Bahamut among them.
Bytopia
Lawful/Neutral Good
A realm composed of two layers, each sitting above the other, meaning you can fly up and land on the other. They are Shurrok and Dothion, where the gods of the Gnomish pantheon used to reside.
Elysium
Neutral Good
This Plane is similar to the Feywild, with nature reigning supreme. The goddess of magic Mystra once had her residence here.
Beastlands
Chaotic/Neutral Good
A wilder version of Elysium, filled with all kinds of animals from the Material Plane, but capable of speech and casting spells.
Arborea
Chaotic Good
A green heaven where both the Greek and Elven pantheons reside. It is a place filled with emotion, love, and drama.
Ysgard
Chaotic Good/Neutral
A set of floating islands make up this realm, inhabited by the Norse Pantheon.
Limbo
Chaotic Neutral
Similar to the Elemental Chaos, Limbo presents elements from all the Planes, and the consistency of none of them. To maintain a sense of self requires constant concentration, but gods can have realms here with ease.
Pandemonium
Chaotic Evil/Neutral
A realm of shifting caverns and nonsensical gravity, the powerful howls and winds at play can turn any mortal mad.
Abyss
Chaotic Evil
The infinite layers of the Abyss arehome to many demons. Most known layers are ruled by a Demon Lord, and their layer is morphed to serve them better.
Carceri
Chaotic/Neutral Evil
In older editions, Carceri was made of interconnected, planet-sized orbs and ruled by demodands. The 2024 Player’s Handbook, however, shows it as a barren wasteland and refers to it as a land filled with despair.
Hades
Neutral Evil
Home of the yugoloths, fiends as violent as demons and as clever as devils. Their gloom-filled land is ruled by them, with their outermost layer being marked by the blood war.
Gehenna
Lawful/Neutral Evil
A dark realm where volcanic activity was the only source of light, and everywhere you tried to stand felt like a slope. Bhaal, god of murder, once had his home realm here.
Nine Hells
Lawful Evil
The Nine Hells are as varied aseach of its layers, but they all have plotting devils and deadly creatures in them. Asmodeus, lord of the Nine, resides in the deepest layer, while the outer landscape is ruled by Zariel as she fights off the demons in the eternal blood war.
Acheron
Lawful Evil/Neutral
A Plane of geometric shapes the size of planets, where spirits of deceased soldiers with forgotten purposes fight an endless battle. Bane, god of tyranny, once held domain over an area of this Outer Plane.
The Other Planes
There are three other Planes that we know of, existingoutside the Astral Planeitself. These arethe Negative Plane, the Positive Plane, and the Far Realm, but we know precious little about each of them beyond their names.
The Negative and Positive Planes are opposed butequally inhabitable.The Negative Planecorrodes and withers anything that exists in it, while the Positive Plane emitsradiance so bright that it disassembles creaturesinto their basic components.
The Far Realm is the one we know less about, and from it are creatures likeAberrations and Mind Flayers. It isn’t a place we are meant to understand, or even visit, but it is wherethe Great Old One patronfor Warlocks is from.
